Once More
by j-jip
Summary: When Hermione started writing letters to Charlie Weasley, she never expected the friendship, and later the love, she would find in him.


**Author's Note:** I've been dying to write a Charlie/Hermione piece for a long time. So when the idea for this hit me, I happily ran with it. This was written for the AU Battle Competition on HPFC. PenPal!AU with the prompt, "I'll really do it, [Insert-Name-Here]."

* * *

_Dear Charlie,_

_At the Christmas party you told me to write to you after you left for Romania again. I decided to take you up on the offer. I hope you don't mind._

_Things are quiet back home after the holidays. Ron and I have been spending a lot of time furnishing our new flat. I've started painting the walls of some of the rooms. Ronald doesn't understand why I don't just do it magically instead of by hand. I keep telling him that sometimes it's just nice to do things the Muggle way. It brings me back to my childhood._

_Percy has started his new job as the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, as I'm sure you know. What you may not know, however, is that this puts me directly below him in the hierarchy of the Ministry. He's been ordering me around all week, I can't tell you how many memos I've sent and responded to on his behalf. There's hardly enough time for me to work on any of my own projects. It's exhausting, but you know how much I enjoy working at the Ministry._

_How are things in Romania? Ginny tells me that the Reservation was doing well when she visited last month. I've always been very curious about what exactly you do there and why you love it so much. _

_Warm regards,_

_Hermione_

…

_Hermione,_

_I'm glad you decided to write to me. Surprised your owl found it's way past the border, though. It's quite a journey for an owl as small as yours. _

_Ron never understood the point of doing things the Muggle way. You'd think he'd have some amount of appreciation for things like that after living with our father for so many years. _

_Ah, Percy the Git is being a git as per usual. Sounds about right. If you need me to send him a howler and tell him to write his own bloody memos, I can definitely do that. I am his older brother, after all._

_The Reservation is wonderful, as always. Ginny loved it, just as I expected her to. I think you'd love it as well. You and Ron should come visit sometime. It's beautiful in the summer. We've had three new dragons born in the past month, so there's a lot of work to be done, but I love it. Can't imagine doing anything else._

_-Charlie_

* * *

_Dear Charlie,_

_Sorry it's been a while. Your last letter has been sitting on my desk for about a week and a half. You probably know why. I'm sure your mother told you if one of your siblings didn't first. _

_It's true. Ron and I broke up. I left him after I caught him drunkenly snogging one of his Quidditch groupies in a pub. It was disgusting. _

_The bad part is that now I think Ron's turned your entire family against me. Even Ginny made an excuse not to meet me for lunch yesterday. Ginny! And then on top of that, Harry is still in Italy on business, so I don't even have him here to help me. _

_I don't know what Ron's telling everyone, but I really need to speak to someone and find out. Perhaps you could tell me what he said? Is my ex-boyfriend slandering me to his whole family? Trying to get them all to outcast me under the pretense that I did something horrible to him?_

_Alright. You've probably had quite enough of my rambling complaints. I hope everything's going well on the Reservation._

_Warm regards,_

_Hermione_

…

_Hermione,_

_I honestly had no idea about Ron until just before your letter came. Mum owled me yesterday and told me many things, some of which were certainly not true. First of all, she said that Ron left you, not the other way around. Secondly, she said that you were cheating on him with someone from work. Some fellow named Derek? Thirdly, she claims that Ron is devastated and broken-hearted, while you're off having the time of your life with some bloke from the Ministry._

_I don't believe these claims for a minute. I believe your story over my mother's, mostly because I know Ronald, and he has a tendency to get stupid drunk and do very stupid things. I'm sorry. You should know that I'm prepared to get a Portkey back to Britain tonight, track Ron down, and punch him in the face. I'll really do it, Hermione. Just say the word. Even though he's my brother, he's a git and you don't deserve to be treated like that. You're the best thing that ever happened to him, and it was bloody stupid of him to not realize it._

_Anyway, I've owled my mother and told her that Ron has been feeding her lies. I hope you're alright over there. The Dragon Reservation is doing very well. I'm itching for some company, though. Perhaps you'd like to get away from my irritating family and come here for a few days? It's beautiful in the summer, as I've told you many times before. We let some of the older dragons fly free sometimes, and Merlin, Hermione, it's the most amazing thing you'll ever see. Really, if you can get away from work for a few days, you're welcome here._

_-Charlie_

…

_Dear Charlie,_

_Your letter was very sweet. Thank you for the offer to punch Ron in the face, but I really don't want you to get involved in this any more than you have to. Besides, things have been fairly resolved. Your mother received your letter and apologized to me after interrogating Ronald about it and finding out the truth. Ginny apologized profusely for believing it as well. Ron still hasn't apologized, but to be fair, I did threaten to hex his bollocks off if he ever tried to speak to me again. I don't intend to keep to that promise forever, of course, but it's nice to see the fear in his eyes whenever we happen to run into each other in Diagon Alley._

_I've been thinking a lot about your offer to visit Romania. You've been raving about it for years, and I have always wanted to see what the Reservation is like. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to get away from Britain for a little while. What do you think?_

_Warm regards,_

_Hermione_

…

_Hermione,_

_What do I think? I think you should come to the reservation right away. Get away from Britain. Get away from work and my git of a brother. There are plenty of dragons waiting here to meet you. And if that doesn't entice you enough, I know how much you always enjoyed Herbology. One of my mates here has a huge garden on the reservation. He's growing just about everything you could ever imagine. Including some rather nasty things. Just last week another bloke here got caught in the Devil's Snare. It was a mess to get him out._

_I'm counting on the fact that you're dropping in for a visit any day now. You'd better be lining up your vacation days and finding a Portkey over here. _

_-Charlie_

…

_Dear Charlie,_

_Alright. I informed Percy that I'm taking a few days off. By the time you get this letter I'll probably be well on my way. See you in a little while._

_Warm regards,_

_Hermione_

* * *

_Hermione,_

_You only left just this morning and I miss you already. It was wonderful to have you here on the Reservation._

_I'm sorry I kissed you last night. I shouldn't have. You just got out of a relationship with my brother, after all. I was just sitting there, beside you, thinking about how it was your last night here in Romania. I wanted you to have a reason to stay here. I don't know why, but I thought that if I kissed you it would give you a reason to stay. _

_I'm glad you told me that we had to stop. It wouldn't have done any good to go further. _

_I'm sorry. I miss you._

_-Charlie_

…

_Dear Charlie,_

_I miss you too. Please don't apologize for kissing me. If you'll remember, I kissed you back. I think I wanted a reason to stay as well. It was wonderful seeing you. You've been such a wonderful friend to write to over these past several months. I want you to know that I don't regret getting to know you. Or kissing you. _

_I like you very much, Charlie, but I just worry that now isn't the right time. I just broke it off with Ron. I didn't even tell anyone that I was going to Romania. The only person I told was Harry, and I made him swear to secrecy. That alone made me feel like I was doing something wrong._

_I think we just need more time. I think it would be best if we wait a few months before seeing each other again. I do miss you too, though. I miss you very much, and I don't ever want to stop writing to you._

_The Reservation was wonderful, by the way. I've been dreaming of the sunsets and the dragons every night. _

_Warm regards,_

_Hermione_

…

_Hermione,_

_Merlin. You sounded like you were breaking up with me in that last letter. I understand what you were trying to say, but you should know that what happened here in Romania- nobody ever has to know about it. It's none of their business and we did nothing wrong. _

_I'm glad you enjoyed the Reservation so much. I hope you'll come back one day. _

_-Charlie_

…

_Hermione,_

_I know I only sent you that last letter yesterday. I know that we agreed to stay away from each other for a while, but I just can't. I realized something today, as I was sitting on that hill you liked so much, watching the sunrise. I realized that I love you. I've been in love with you since the first letter you ever wrote me. I loved you even when you were with Ron. _

_So I'm not going to wait. I'm not going to keep writing you letters and giving you space. I'm coming to England tonight. I'm going to go to your flat and knock on the door and tell you that I love you._

I know you'll probably get this letter after I arrive, tomorrow morning at the earliest, but I needed to explain myself to you. That way, if you reject me tonight you'll at least read these words in the morning and know the truth.

_With love,_

_Charlie_

…

_Dear Charlie,  
_

_I'm sitting in bed beside you as I write this letter. You're sound asleep. Did you know that you snore? Just a little bit, very quietly. It's rather amusing. _

_Anyway, your owl arrived a moment ago and tapped on my window. I read your letter and I decided that it's only fair for me to write you a letter in response._

_I love you too. I told you that already about twenty times last night when you came to my flat, but it shouldn't hurt to say it once more._

_I've loved you for a long time. Too long. I think I loved you even when I was with Ron. I can't tell you how happy I am that you came to my flat all the way from Romania. I was shocked when I opened the door and saw you, but I have to say that now that it's morning, I couldn't be happier._

_I don't think I'm afraid of what's going on between us anymore. I was for a short time. When you kissed me on that hilltop in Romania, it felt like the closest thing to perfection I'd ever experienced. That's why I kissed you back. That's why it hurt so much to stop it._

_I was afraid because you're Ron's brother, and I was fearful of what people would say. I was also fearful that you would hurt me the way Ron did. But I've realized that you're not nearly the same person as your brother. I've realized that it's okay for the two of us to be together, and there's nothing in the world that would make me want to leave you now._

_Alright. You're stirring awake. I have to go._

_Love,_

_Hermione_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Not entirely sure how happy I am with how this turned out. It's quite hard to write an entire story in just letters. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it. Reviews are appreciated!


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